Brown
by peach83
Summary: An AU SERIES of JK set in Brown University, where they come across my other favorite characters from other shows. i.e. Summer Roberts, Peyton Sawyer...


**BROWN **

**(Season 1)**

by: peach83

**DISCLAIMER: **All the characters, except for the few that I might be creating as the series progresses, doesn't belong to me. Jessie Sammler, Katie Singer, Tad Pincus, and Grace Manning belongs to ABC and the creators of Once and Again. Summer Roberts, Seth Cohen and Jodie Rodriguez, with reference to Marissa Cooper, of course belongs to Josh Schwartz and The OC. Peyton Sawyer belongs to The CW and One Tree Hill. The other characters that I'd be using in the future (maybe Andie McPhee from Dawson's Creek, or Torrance Shipman from Bring It On), I'm definitely not claiming ownership.

**A/N: **Though this is absolutely a Jessie/Katie fic, this is set in an environment that's kind'a like the South of Nowhere, college version. I have to say that it's a cross-over among my favorite shows and my favorite characters. This is a **SERIES. **So, I hope you guys would still read it. I would have included Ashley and Spencer from South of Nowhere, but I think that might only confuse the readers if there are too much characters. So, the Spashley fans would have to wait, I'm kind'a prioritizing Jessie and Katie right now.

**SUMMARY: **As the new school year opens, a new group of sophomores and freshmen stir things up at Brown University. Social butterfly, the gorgeous and smart sophomore, Katherine Singer from Upton Sinclair heats up the dorm with her charms and beauty as soon as she moves in at her freshman year, while her bestfriend Thaddeus Pincus got to share her popularity. Angsty and slightly arrogant Grace Manning, over her objections, had to share a room with her rival stepsister, the talented, brilliant and insecure Jessica Sammler, when said sister was accepted at Brown. Meanwhile, at Marissa Cooper's death, her surviving yet lonely and heartbroken bestfriend, Summer Roberts, decides to leave Newport and fly to the other end of the country to study at Brown, only to have a chance encounter with someone from the past, the egotistic and annoying Jodie Rodriguez (the ex of her bestfriend Marissa's ex... what?). And another interesting character, the tortured artist from Tree Hill, former Raven cheerleader Peyton Elizabeth Sawyer, is already on her second year in Brown, after she left their small town to pursue her dream, and to mend her broken heart.

**EPISODE 1HELLO BROWN**

**BROWN UNIVERSITY**, the Ivy League institution in Providence, Rhode Island...

**KATHERINE SINGER, **the hot and gorgeous Pre-Law sophomore, could be seen gracing the lucky grow of grass in the Quadrangle of Brown University with her drooling bestfriend, Tad. Tad was not drooling for no reason. He was watching as freshmen girls poured into the campus.

"Hot and fresh, straight from highschool. What more could I ask for?" Tad stared as a good-looking brunette, apparently freshman, walked past by them. He followed the girl with his gaze, staring at the girl's butt. Katie saw they way Tad looked at the poor girl, and shake her head.

"Pig." Katie said and Tad merely laughed.

**THADDEUS PINCUS** is in the same year, under football scholarship. He's very good at sports, and still doesn't understand why Katie is more popular than him, especially when it comes to girls.

Oops... So I forgot to mention that little detail. Katie Singer was gay.

"Thanks." Tad grinned. His grin grew wider when he saw the head cheerleader of the football varsity heading their way. "Oh yes, Kyle Rondot..." Tad looked giddy at the sight of the cheerleader.

"Hello Katie." Kyle smiled, but to Tad's disappointment, not at him.

"Hey Kyle." Katie smiled back.

"I'm having a party at the sorority house tonight. You should be there. I'll see you." Giving Katie one last sweet smile and a wink, Kyle strode off, leaving an open-mouthed Tad behind.

"You know, this isn't fair." Tad stopped walking and faced his bestfriend.

"What?" Katie frowned.

"I like girls. Actually no. I LOVE girls so much. And I still couldn't understand why, but MOST of them would prefer to flirt with you than me. This isn't normal." Tad whined. Katie looked amused.

"It's not my fault that I'm hotter than you." Katie joked. She's normally humble, but when fooling around with Tad, it just gets so damn entertaining to crush his ego.

"You know what's more annoying? You don't even seem interested. Do you even realize how lucky you are that both men and women fall at your feet? You're wasting your gift."

"I don't have to hit on every girl that flirts with me, Tad. I'm not like that." Katie said dismissively and started walking again. Tad caught up with her.

"Are you sure you're gay? 'Coz if you're only pretending that you are so I wouldn't hit on you, you can stop now 'coz you're not my type." Tad said. Katie laughed.

"Thaddeus, you're way over your head. And who would have thought I'd have to defend my sexuality like this?" Katie laughed again. Tad tugged her arm.

"Admit it. You're straight pretending to be gay."

"Shut up Tad."

Meanwhile, at the dorm, **SUMMER ROBERTS **and** SETH COHEN** from Newport had to squeeze their way through a thick crowd of students in the hallways of the dorm doing their own moving before they were able to reach Summer's dorm room.

"Shit, it's freakin' cold in here!" Summer exclaimed as she burst her new dorm room open. The petite frame of the brunette waltzed into the room hastily, pulling her traveling bag so hurriedly and lets it go; said traveling bag hitting the cozy, brown living room couch with a thud. The fashionista was followed by a geeky-looking, curly haired boy, who was carrying an awful lot of other bags, which he was surprisingly able to carry.

"Summer, it's the East Coast, what do you expect?" Seth said, then tripped on the rather unsuspecting rug, and stumbled on the floor; with the rest of Summer's bag falling all over him. Embarrassed, he immediately got up, dusting himself off. Summer threw a disgusted look at her ex-boyfriend, shaking her head.

"Where the hell is my coat? I need to find my coat!" Summer then began opening each of her traveling bags, trying to find a coat. She was already wearing one but it wasn't enough; the cold was still getting under her clothes. Well, what do you expect from someone who had lived in Newport her whole life? It's been practically year-rounds of summer since she was born. Could that be the reason why her parents named her Summer? Clothes came flying into every direction of the room, before the bags could even reach her bedroom.

"Oh, here's your coat." Seth picked up a dark blue coat that had been thrown carelessly on the floor. Summer snatched it from him and threw it back, to Seth's disbelief. "I thought you're looking for a coat!"

"Not that one." Summer continued rummaging inside her bags. Seth sighed. It gets kind'a tiring being around Summer sometimes.

"What?" Seth frowned.

"It doesn't match the color of my skirt, see?" Summer got up from the couch and turned around so Seth could she what she meant. Seth couldn't help but slap himself in the forehead.

"Summer, I'm hungry. I need to eat."

"Why don't you just help me find my peach coat so then we could go out and eat cafeteria food?" Summer tried to brighten up. She was hungry herself. But she couldn't go out, not without that peach coat.

"Cafeteria food..." Seth pondered. "Doesn't sound so good. Let's order pizza." Seth suggested.

"Sure, as soon as we find that coat. Come on Seth, hustle!" Summer began throwing clothes again. Seth looked around, in ten seconds, Summer had created so much mess. He felt suddenly sympathetic towards Summer's roommate.

"Uhm... Can you stop throwing everything everywhere? 'Coz it would definitely take us longer to clean that up, and I'm probably gonna die of ulcer..." Seeing the look Summer was giving him, and he stopped complaining. "Okay, shutting up now."

_God, I wish Marissa was here... _Seth silently wished. Had Marissa survived that car crash, he wouldn't be in agony just wasting time finding a peach coat with Summer right now. Okay, he loved Summer, in fact, he still do. But the two of them decided to be just friends in the meantime, following Marissa's death. Things had been rough since then. He was just glad that Summer managed to gain her sense of humor back, after months of mourning over the death of her bestfriend, their very own Newport princess.

At another part of the dorm, **PEYTON ELIZABETH SAWYER, **artist and DJ, was as usual, sketching in her room. She was waiting for the arrival of her new roommate. Her former one, Kahlen, had moved out last semester after graduating. It didn't take long when she heard the knocks on her door. Peyton got up from her seat in her room, and headed to open the front door.

"Jodie Rodriguez, nice to meet you!" The Latina exclaimed excitedly, as she introduced herself to dumbstricken Peyton. Peyton wasn't even able to stop the pair of arms that wrapped around her, almost choking her.

"Uhm… Okay, I'm Peyton Sawyer and nice to meet you too… Can you let me go now? I really couldn't breathe." Peyton tried to say in the most polite way she could. She was sort of suffocating in the Latina's tight embrace, and realizing that she's probably killing her new roommate, Jodie released Peyton.

"Oh, sorry. I'm kind'a excited with this new college thing. So forgive me if I'm weirding you out. I'm normally a bitch, but you're my roommate, and we're supposed to get along, right? So I'll try my best to be nice, and it seemS like I'm not going to have a hard time since I like you already! So, where's my room?" Jodie plastered a big smile as she babbled, while Peyton forced her own smile.

_Oh God kill me now… _Peyton sighed.

Meanwhile, Tad left Katie to meet his teammates and coach for lunch. He agreed to meet Katie later and hang out somewhere with her friend Jodie. Instead of going back to her dorm, she decided to first take a walk, and revisit the places that she love about Brown.

It took Katie hours just to walk around. She loves being in this place, she loves being a part of this diversified community, where you can be who you are and express how you feel. Not that she wasn't accepted at home. In fact, her family loves her so much. But despite of her harmonious relationship with her parents, and her extra-caring brothers, Katie feels so incomplete.

Katie didn't realize she was already entering her dorm building, but she was too pre-occupied with her thoughts to even notice the girl hurrying at her direction, who, like her, wasn't paying much attention to where she was going.

A second later, Katie just clashed into someone and found herself falling on the ground.

"Aww!" Katie screamed in pain, as she felt her back hit the pavement, not to mention the hot brown liquid that accidentally poured into her favorite white shirt. The other girl fell on the ground just beside her.

"Shit…" Katie muttered under her breath, realizing that it was coffee that stained her shirt. She tried to get up from her fall. _Whoever caused this accident is so gonna pay! _Katie turned to give the clumsy girl the worst scolding of her life.

"What the hell are you…" Katie unconsciously trailed off at the sight of the terrified look on the other girl's face. And all of a sudden, she felt sympathetic, her anger vanishing in less than a millisecond.

"Are you okay?" Katie continued.

"Oh, I am so sorry! I didn't mean to… Oh God, I'll wash the shirt for you, I'll do anything, please just don't be mad." **JESSICA SAMMLER**, the talented yet insecure freshman, blonde-haired blue-eyed girl from Evanston, could just feel her face burning and her knees shaking in front of the strong-featured taller brunette in front of her. The last thing she needs right now is to get to the wrong side of anyone in Brown. That would be a nightmare.

But to her surprise, Katie Singer smiled.

"I'm really sorry." Jessie looked so apologetic, making her look more and more innocent the longer Katie looks at her.

"Are you okay?" Katie repeated the question that the blonde failed to answer a while ago. Jessie was a bit taken aback by the question, that's certainly not the reaction she was expecting since the accident was her fault.

"I think so… You?"

"I'm great." Katie replied, despite the stinging in her lower back. She must have fallen to a stone or something.

"Are you sure?" Jessie looked worried.

"Yeah." Katie widen her smile, reassuring the girl that she's fine. It's just a fall, she didn't even hit her head. Jessie finally smiled, and Katie's mouth unconsciously fell open after seeing the blonde smile. Jessie glanced at the watch on her right hand.

"Listen, I got to go meet someone… I'm really sorry. I'll wash your clothes---"

"No need for that." Katie grinned.

"I really have to go." Jessie made a step away from Katie. She really needs to rush to be able to catch up with her appointment with her new therapist.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Katie chuckled.

"Bye." Jessie smiled again, and started making faster steps away from the brunette.

"Bye." Katie watched as the blonde jogged away from the dorm, and she stood there until the girl was out of her sight.

_I wonder if she's meeting her boyfriend? _Katie sighed. _Of course, a girl like that definitely has a boyfriend… _Katie then proceeded to her dorm room.

Katie turned the doorknob of her room, then entered. But, she froze at the threshold upon seeing the mess in the living room. Clothes were scattered everywhere, along with the big pink traveling bags.

"OH… MY… GOD." Katie said aloud.

_Shit, so my roommate's a slob… Lucky me… _Katie shake her head. She's too organized to deal with the sloppiness of this freshman.

"Seth, you really are doing your best to get into my nerves right now."

Katie's head snapped into the direction of the female voice. Then, two figures started to emerge from the other room. Katie watched as the two walked nearer to her direction. Summer was walking ahead of Seth, still insistent to find her lost coat, which probably not even one of the things that she packed. Seth couldn't argue anymore. He was tired of complaining, and Summer wouldn't stop until she finds that freakin' coat.

"I told you, we have to find that peach coat first then…" Summer's voice trailed off, as her eyes fell upon the sight of her new roommate standing by the door. Summer froze, felt her whole body numb, and her jaw dropped, the color apparently draining from her face.

"Oh my God…" With that, Summer passed out. Katie's eyes widened.

"Holy shit!" Katie ran to the passed out girl's side, helping her out. She shot a venomous look at the curly haired boy standing beside the petite freshman, doing nothing but look at her.

"Will you stop staring and help your friend up?!" Katie growled at him. Seth was woken out of his stupor, shakes his head frantically, and carried Summer back into Summer's room.

Meanwhile, at another room in the dorm, Peyton was back to her sketching. The arrival of the hyperactive roommate was nice but rattling. She isn't sure if she could keep up with the energy of this new girl, but she seemed interesting.

_She has to refrain from hugging me though, she almost killed me... _Peyton laughed. She then heard the knocks on her bedroom door.

"It's open." Peyton said. Her door slowly opened. And Jodie's head poked out on the side.

"Can I come in?" Jodie smiled.

"Sure." Peyton smiled at the Latina. This time, it was genuine. Jodie walked into the room. Peyton put her pencil and sketch pad down the table and turned her chair around so she could face Jodie. "Can I help you with anything?"

"I've been looking at your records in the living room…"

"I meant to put all of it here in my room but there's not much space. Does it bother you?" Peyton looked worried. She loves her records so much, she's not gonna take it out of the room.

"Are you kidding? I loved it." Jodie smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I can't believe you have the first original records of The Clash. How did you even get those? I thought it was limited." Jodie was a music junkie herself. She loves anything old school.

"It was…" Peyton smiled, her mind drifting to the night when she and her biological mother, Ellie, did nothing but listen to their songs of their favorite bands. "So, you're into music?" Peyton asked curiously.

"I'm from LA. Of course I'm into music." Jodie grinned. She then saw the sketches all around Peyton's room. It was basically what styles her room. "Wow, cool… Anyway, I'm hanging out with my friend tonight. Do you want to come?" Jodie offered.

"I'd love to but I can't. I have to work. In fact, I have to go now. My shift's starting early since class isn't starting yet." Peyton got up from her seat and grabbed her jacket.

"Where do you work?" Jodie got up and followed Peyton to the living room.

"The Mix."

"What?" Jodie frowned.

"It's a bar. Everyone at Brown hangs out there. You should drop by." Peyton headed for the door.

"At The Mix?"

"Yeah, it would be nice. I'll reserve a table for you. You can take your friend if you want." Peyton felt immediately comfortable with Jodie. "Welcome home 'roomie'."

"Thanks 'roomie'." Jodie was obviously excited.

Meanwhile, Katie was sitting at the edge of Summer's bed, waiting for the other girl to wake up. Summer still has pulse, so Katie isn't worried. Seth had brought in a glass of water, which had been sitting at the bedside table for minutes now. When she turned to look at the curly haired boy, she found him staring again.

"This isn't possible…" Seth grumbled.

"What is wrong with you?" Katie was getting a bit irritated at Seth's staring. Before Seth could answer, they heard Summer's groaning. Summer stirred from the bed, turning her head and slowly opening her eyes. Seeing the unfamiliar surrounding, she paused and thought for a moment, remembered she was in her new dorm at Brown University.

_Coop… I dreamed about Coop… _Summer remembered seeing Marissa on the doorstep of the dorm room. _Seth…_

"Seth?" Summer said, then tried to get up from the bed. When a pair of hands tried to stop her, and when she heard that familiar deep female voice, Summer knew she wasn't dreaming anymore. Her eyes stopped at the sight of Katie looking worried beside her.

"Coop!" Summer immediately wrapped her arms around Katie, to Katie's utter surprise but didn't do anything to push the girl away. When Summer pulled away first, the petite girl was crying and smiling at the same time.

"What, why are you crying?" Katie asked in concern.

"Am I dead? Am I already in heaven?" Summer then asked. Seth merely watched to where he stood.

"Huh?" Katie frowned.

"How did I die?" Summer asked, then let her eyes look around the room and found Seth. "Seth, you're dead too? Did we die together?" Summer frowned. Katie looked dumbstruck.

_I didn't sign for this… The last thing I need is a psychotic roommate. Haven't they seen the sequels of American Psycho? _Katie sighed. She turned to look at Seth.

"You're friend probably had a concussion. We have to bring her to the hospital." Katie got up from the edge of the bed, and to her surprise, Summer jumped out of bed and hugged her again.

"I'm so happy to see you again, Coop!" Summer was ecstatic, her arms wrapped tight around the baffled Katie.

"Who in the world is Coop?" Katie frowned, and felt Summer slowly pulling away. Summer stares at Katie's eyes, as if looking for the answer. But Seth answered it for them.

"Summer, she isn't Marissa. You know that." Seth sighed. So, Summer took it the hardest when Marissa died. Obviously.

"Of course I'm not Marissa or Coop or whoever that is. I'm Katie Singer." Katie explained. As much as she didn't want to disappoint the astounded girl standing in front of her, she had to confirm that she isn't who Summer thought she is.

Summer stepped back, merely looking at Katie. Then she slumped on the bed, now looking down the floor. Only realizing now how stupid she had become. _Of course it wasn't possible, she couldn't be Marissa… Marissa's dead… _Summer sighed and looked up at Katie again. But she did think she had died and gone to heaven. _But how could she look exactly like my bestfriend? _Summer was astounded by the similarity.

"Summer Roberts." Summer said, sounding disappointed.

"Seth Cohen." Seth introduced himself too.

"Are you okay? You looked like you've seen a ghost." Katie asked in concern. Summer and Seth exchanged looks.

"I'm fine… Thanks. I didn't mean to freak you out." Summer looked a bit embarrassed. Katie paused for a moment, thinking if she should say her thoughts out loud.

"Well, you did freak me out for a bit there." Then Katie chuckled.

"I'm sorry." Summer smiled.

"That's okay." Katie smiled back. "So, you're my new roommate?"

"Yup."

Starting to feel at ease with each other, Seth then decided to leave the new roommates alone. He has his own unpacking to do at his dorm in Providence College. Since she was already settled, and Summer had practically tornadoed (if even there's such a term) the whole living room, Katie volunteered to help Summer pick all of her things and organize it in Summer's room.

To Katie's uneasiness, Summer had fell into her own silence again in the next few minutes. It took her a long time to get over Marissa's death before she was finally able to deal with the reality of her passing away. Seeing Marissa again, or Katie rather, was just a big blow on her emotions. It's not that she isn't happy to have Katie as her roommate, she's in fact very glad. It's just that, it doesn't change the fact that she's never gonna see the real Marissa again. Imagine losing someone you've known since you were two.

After cleaning and organizing everything, Katie accompanied Summer to the nearest grocery store to buy stocks. The weird girl from the OC turned out to be too rich to even realize that she needs to buy stocks for their fridge. Summer's used to having the maid do all the grocery shopping and house cleaning.

"So, who's Coop?" Katie finally had the guts to speak the question. Summer, who was presently pushing the grocery cart, paused.

"She's my bestfriend." Summer answered. Normally, she would have ignored the question. Katie's still a stranger after all, but it was odd that she feels like Katie isn't a stranger.

"So she's a girl? I thought Coop was a guy's name." Katie frowned. Summer chuckled at the offbeat comment.

"Her name's Marissa Cooper. 'Coop' seems cooler than Marissa, and I don't know, but I seem to have a fetish on calling people in their surnames, so don't be surprise when I start calling you Singer." Summer smiled. She saw cans of beans and picked 3, throwing it carelessly into her cart.

"Why do you keep throwing things?" Katie said, looking amused.

"No reason." Summer replied.

"So… What happened to her?" Katie had an idea, with all the death and heaven talk by Summer, but her curiosity was killing her. So maybe she was crossing the lines and prying, but her interest in Summer's bestfriend just gets the best of her. Summer threw her a brief look, then shifted her eyes to the stacks of canned tuna. She's on a diet so she picked as many as she can and threw it into her cart again.

"It's a long story." Summer finally answered.

"Cut it short." Katie encouraged her.

"Are you normally nosey?" Summer narrowed her eyes on Katie.

"No, but you can't blame my curiosity when my new roommate passed out at the first sight of me before I could even introduce myself. Do I look that scary?" Katie said, mocking shock. Summer laughed. So her new roommate is entertaining. Then she paused, pondering whether to talk about it or not… Her therapist did say it would be okay, in fact that would help her cope with her loss.

"Uhm… She died… Car crash." Summer stated. Katie's jaw dropped, and she mentally smacked herself. If it wasn't for her prying…

"I'm sorry…" Katie said sincerely. She felt heartbroken; she isn't sure if it's for Summer's loss, or if it was for Marissa's death. She haven't even met Marissa.

"It's okay."

"So… You passed out when you saw me because…?"

"You'll freak out if I tell you." Summer said as a matter of fact.

"No I won't."

"Yes you will." Summer said in conviction when she stopped pushing the cart. Katie stopped beside her, meeting Summer's eyes with her own.

"No I won't." Katie said slightly raising her voice.

"Do you have a serious heart condition?" Summer asked.

"No." Katie answered, frowning. _So this girl is really weird…_

"Are you sure?"

"Summer, I'm healthy, okay? Just tell me." Katie crossed her arms impatiently. Summer put her right hand in her hip.

"If you passed out on the floor, I'm leaving you right here." Summer warned Katie. Katie's jaw dropped.

"Hey, I helped you when you passed out!" Katie protested. Not that she was going to pass out or anything.

"Have you seen how tall you are? I'd practically break my spinal cord into three places if I carry you!" Summer said, horrified at the thought of carrying the lanky brunette.

"Fine, whatever, I'm not going pass out, so, what now?" Katie said flippantly. Summer began reaching for something in her bag.

"Oh, that's rude." Katie rolled her eyes. Right, keep her waiting some more and she'd definitely push Summer to the end of the store.

"Will you relax? I'm trying to point out something here." Summer continued looking for something in her bag.

"What are you looking for?"

"Found it!" Summer picked out her wallet. Katie stared at the black Gucci leather Summer was holding, and shifted her gaze to Summer, looking expectant.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the pile of goods Katie and Summer were standing, Jessie stopped pushing her own cart to answer her ringing celphone.

"Hey…" Jessie answered.

"_Where are you? You've been gone for hours." _Her half-sister's voice was heard on the other line.

"Just getting some supplies. I'm coming back soon." Jessie assured her.

"_Did you bring your keys? I'm going out with Parker. I might be home late. Are you gonna be fine?" _**GRACE MANNING, **a sophomore at Brown, English Lit. major, is Jessie's half-sister. They never really get along. They talk, they haven't gotten to the point where they could tell each other's secrets. Both knew they were just trying to be civil with each other. Grace still wasn't thrilled about her mother's marriage with Jessie's father, and Jessie felt the same way. That's the reason why Jessie became depressed in the first place. She was treated for anorexia and had been seeing a shrink 'til highschool graduation. Fearing she might relapse, her dad set her up for appointment with a new therapist in Providence.

"I have my keys, don't worry." Jessie replied.

"_Okay." _With that, Grace hung up. If she had her way, Jessie would have lived with someone else. It's college, and who lives with her half-sister in college? She didn't really have a choice, since it's her parents who paid for her full tuition. Can't really argue.

Back at the other side, Summer pulled something from inside her wallet, and handed it to Katie.

"What's this?" Katie frowned.

"Just look at it." Summer said. Katie took at look at the picture. There were four people, two girls and two boys who looked like highschools. She immediately recognized Summer, who had her arms wrapped around Seth. The other boy was standing on the side, his own arms wrapped around the other girl, whose face made Katie's jaw drop straight to the floor.

"Whow…" Katie blinked, thinking she must have been hallucinating or something, as she stared at the picture of Summer's bestfriend.

It must be the freaking Twilight Zone. 'Coz Marissa Cooper looks EXACTLY like her. Katie didn't realize she made a step back, accidentally brushing her elbow at the pile of canned sausages in her back. It was too late to see the reaction of Summer's face.

She had already knocked the pile of sausages down, making one big, scandalous sound. Katie suddenly turned around, the color draining from her face, looking totally embarrassed and mortified at the scene she just caused, silently blaming herself for being such a klutz. And when every can had fallen down the floor, she found herself looking at the surprised look of the girl standing frozen at the other side of the pile.

It was the blonde girl who knocked her down that afternoon.

The girl was looking back at her, and she was staring back. Katie didn't know what to do, whether she should pick up the cans she knocked down, or walk over if the other girl was fine. It was as if she was taken away from her own world, like she's traveling in space and nothing else matters…

"That's a strong reaction from the canned sausages." Summer remarked which Katie ignored. Jessie, who was still looking back at Katie, gave her a smile and finally proceeded to pushing her grocery cart. When Jessie was finally out of her sight, Katie turned to face Summer again. Staff of the grocery store ran to the scene and started stacking the cans back.

"What?" Katie asked. She apparently didn't hear Summer before.

"Can't believe it yourself?" Summer asked. Katie realized she's still holding Summer's picture with her, or Marissa rather. So, the resemblance is unnerving.

_How can someone looks so much like me? _Katie stared in disbelief again.

"This is her? This is Marissa Cooper?" Katie squeaked. Summer nodded in affirmative.

"So now you understand why I passed out after seeing you?" Katie looked up at Summer. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you guys are twins."

"I'd probably say that too…" Katie looked back at the picture. Summer started pushing her cart again, with Katie following her. Katie handed the picture back to Summer, and Summer stashed it back into her wallet. Just then, Katie's celphone started ringing.

"Hey Jo." Katie answered, lifting the celphone into her right ear.

"_Where are you? I'm standing outside your dorm." _Jodie said impatiently as she paced back and forth in front of Katie's dorm room.

"What time is it?" Katie frowned, looking for a watch since she forgot to wear her own.

"_It's 8:00 pm. Are you coming or what?" _

"I'm still at the grocery store with my new roommate. She needed help so---"

"_Do you really have to babysit her?" _Jodie isn't that patient when it comes to waiting, so, you have to understand why she's a little grumpy talking to Katie right now.

"Don't wait for me. Let's just meet somewhere. Where do you want to go?" Katie tried to lighten up Jodie's mood.

"_The Mix. My roommate's the DJ there, she's reserving a table for us."_

"Okay, I'll meet you there in thirty. Then I'll call Tad if she could pick up Grace."

"_Ciao." _Jodie hung up and the line went dead. After hanging up, Katie dialed Tad's number. Tad answered the other line.

"_Katie, what's up?" _Tad answered, and Katie heard the sound of music on the other line. Tad must be back at the frat house where he lives. It's an everyday party there.

"Jodie and I are hanging out at The Mix tonight. She's on her way. Do you want to come?"

"_Be right there." _Tad smiled and grabbed her coat at a nearby hanger.

"Try to pick up Grace. I tried calling her this morning but I couldn't reach her phone."

"_Okay." _Tad and Katie hung up. And Tad proceeded to Grace's dorm.

At Sayles Hall, Jessie just arrived from buying supplies from the grocery. Grace was out, as she already had informed her. She was unpacking her groceries when she heard the knocks on the door. Jessie sighed, and lazily went to open the door. And when she did…

"Yeah?" Jessie asked then paused at the sight of the guy standing by the door.

"Jessie?" Tad stared at her, which made her blush a little.

"Tad, what are you doing here?"

"Uhm, I'm looking for Grace." Tad smiled.

"Oh, she went out with Parker."

"Okay… Are you doing something?" Tad asked. He hadn't seen Jessie for a year, and he'd have to say the girl had changed a lot. She had grown up a lot and time had been good to her.

"No… School hasn't even started." Jessie smiled politely. She used to have a crush on Tad, especially when they did the school play in highschool together. But the feelings just disappeared. Tad did ask her to go out on a date, but she didn't feel anything towards him at all. In fact, it turned out pretty boring.

"I'm hanging out with my friends at The Mix. Since you're not doing anything, you can come if you want." Tad proposed. Jessie pondered for a moment. She IS really bored. There's nothing much on tv, and she has nothing else to do.

"Okay. Let me just get my coat." Jessie went to her room to get her coat. While she was gone, Tad dialed a number, and when the other person answered.

"_What?"_

"Grace isn't here. But I'm bringing a date." He said grinning, and hung up again.

At THE MIX… Katie and Jodie were inside one of the VIP rooms. Katie just hung up after having a really short conversation with Tad over the phone.

"He's said he's bringing a date." Katie frowned.

"Girls actually date HIM?" Jodie laughed mockingly. She loves insulting Tad. Well, he should be. Jodie had more girlfriends than Tad ever had. Katie laughed.

Oops, so I forgot to mention again. Jodie's gay too. She and Katie became friends when they met in LA. Katie went to see UCLA while on the process of weighing her college options, and she was in the same group as Jodie. Jodie, like Summer, was rather bitchy when she first met her, mistaking her for someone else (probably another look alike). But upon realizing that she's from Illinois, and after introducing herself, Jodie stopped being so hard on her. She did try to hit on Katie, but Katie said they should just be friends.

Jodie didn't go to school the next year though. She decided to take a break from school for a year, and now she's back, and chose to study at Brown where Katie was.

"Don't worry, I'm as surprised as you are." Katie joked. Then, a spunky, curly blonde entered their room.

"You guys cool here?" Peyton asked.

"Sure. Stay with us, we're still waiting for the other friends." Jodie offered.

"No can't do. Got to work, remember?" Peyton's eyes fell on Katie, who was looking at her. "Hey." Peyton smiled.

"You must be the roommate. I'm Katie Singer." Katie offered her hand and Peyton happily shook it.

"Yeah, you're pretty popular at our building. I'm Peyton Sawyer."

"Nice to meet you." Katie smiled.

"If you guys need anything, just mention my name at the bar, you wouldn't have a hard time getting drinks… On second thought, you don't need my name… You're hanging out with Katie." Peyton chuckled. "See you later guys." Peyton gave them a last wave and went back to her post, at the DJ's booth. Jodie turned her head, her eyes narrowing at Katie.

"So what if you're Katie?" Jodie asked.

"Watch me." Katie got up from her seat and headed to the crowded bar. People were screaming at the bartender, trying each of their best to get the burly guy's attention. Katie smoothly squeezed her way into the mass of people, which she didn't have a hard time doing. She gave the bartender one smile, and he abandoned the customer he was currently serving.

"The usual?" The bartender asked her.

"Yeah… Can we have a bottle? I'm hanging out with friends, and we're at the VIP."

"No prob. Just wait over there, we'll have it delivered." The bartender gave her a winked and Katie strode back to the VIP. She sat beside Jodie, whose mouth dropped open.

"How did you do that?"

"It's the same with girls, Jodie." Katie shrugged.

"I know that. But he isn't even good-looking!" Jodie said in exasperation.

"We needed drinks. What else can I do?"

"So use your charms and sex appeal, right? Yuck… When I was bartending, I didn't flirt with guys. And what's the point? They'd still ask for drinks even if I ignore their flirting. And I still get tips!"

"And here we are."

Katie and Jodie turned their heads at the direction of the male voice. Tad was just entering the room with his date.

Katie's jaw dropped. It was the girl that knocked her down that afternoon.

Back at Sayles Hall, Summer and Seth are hanging out at her dorm room, watching tv in front of the couch, cuddled with each other.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Seth asked. Summer turned her head to look at her ex.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Don't you think it's a little creepy to live with someone who looks exactly the same as Marissa?" Seth asked in concern. Summer paused for a while.

"No… Actually, it makes me feel better… Makes me feel like she's here, near me."

"That's why I said creepy." Seth added.

"I'll be fine, Seth…"

"So… Where's the twin?"

"What?" Summer frowned, and finally realizing what Seth meant, she answered. "She's hanging out with friends at The Mix."

"She didn't invite you?"

"I feel kind'a tired. I didn't want to go." Summer yawned, and Seth smiled.

Back at The Mix… Katie was still recovering from the surprise. The other girl was as surprise as her, but didn't let it show.

_So she's Tad's date… Interesting… _Katie kept moving awkwardly in her seat. Tad and Jessie sat opposite them.

"Girls, this is Jessie Sammler." Tad introduced her. Jodie smiled.

_Jessie Sammler… Where did I hear that name before? _Katie thought.

"Jodie Rodriguez." Jodie introduced herself. Jessie smiled back, then turned her attention to Katie.

"Katie Singer." Katie smiled.

"Hi." Jessie greeted, and her eyes remained holding Katie's. "I'm really sorry about your shirt." Jessie smiled apologetically.

"Yeah, I'm still mourning over it… It's my favorite." Katie stated, which made Jessie blushed. Jessie still felt so embarrassed about what happened. Seeing the red in Jessie's cheeks, Katie continued. "I have a thousand other shirts, don't worry about it." Katie chuckled.

"I'm very sorry…" Jessie said again.

"You have to stop apologizing or I'm gonna have to start calling you 'sorry'." Katie joked. Jessie smiled again.

"Sorry." _Oops… _Jessie chuckled.

"You knew each other?" Tad asked.

"We do now." Katie said smoothly. _So she's off limits… Great… _Katie wondered if it was Tad that Jessie was in a hurry to meet that afternoon.

"Where's your roommate?" Jodie asked Katie. She had been wanting to ask the question about the annoying little freshman who kept Katie occupied.

"The weird girl from the OC? She said she's too tired to hang out."

"Tired of babysitting?" Jodie asked again.

"I wasn't babysitting." Katie growled at Jodie.

So the four of them had a blast, or Tad at least. He focused all of his attention to Jessie, who doesn't seem to be in the mood for anything. He asked her to dance twice but turned him down, saying she isn't much of a dancer. Katie tried to listen to Jodie's stories of conquests when she was still LA, while she took a year-break from school, which Tad later tried to dispute. He still couldn't accept the fact that a girl could get more girls than he could.

After midnight, they decided to call it a night and they all went home. Tad, of course, walked Jessie back to her dorm. Jodie decided to crash at Katie's since she realized she forgot her keys and Peyton just disappeared from the DJ's booth after her shift. Summer was already asleep when they reached Katie's room.

Jodie stayed at the couch in the living room, and Katie proceeded to her bedroom. But she couldn't fall asleep. She tossed and turned, at one time, she even fell from the bed. She felt so restless.

Meanwhile, at the living room, Jodie couldn't sleep either, probably because of the fact that she's not used to the place. Had she slept in her own room in the dorm, she wouldn't be able to sleep either, she knew it. It takes a lot of time for her to get used to something. She got up from the couch, and headed to get water from the fridge.

"I wonder if Katie named her own bottles of water?" Jodie said to herself, but spoke it loud enough for someone to hear. She was already holding a bottle when…

"Aahhh!" The screamed came so sudden, Jodie lost grip of the bottle and it fell on the floor. Next thing she knew, she was knocked down, and a furious girl pounced on her.

"What the fuck?!" Jodie screamed.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?!" Summer screamed, and for the first time, got a clear look of the angry girl beneath her… And finally, she recognized who it was… "Jodie?" Summer couldn't believe her eyes. Neither did Jodie.

"Summer Roberts?" Jodie winced. "Get off of me!" Summer realized her position and she slightly blushed, and immediately got off of the Latina.

"Are you lost or something?" Summer growled at Jodie, at the same time, fixing her hair.

"What's going on here?" Katie's voice was heard from the direction of her room, and when the two turned, they saw her looking at them in confusion. "Why are you guys yelling? Some people are actually trying to sleep."

"Is this your girlfriend?" Summer asked Katie in disbelief while pointing at Jodie. She immediately assumed that they were a couple since Jodie isn't so decent to sleep over a girl's house without sleeping with her.

"Don't point at me!" Jodie shoved Summer's hand away.

"Summer, she's just a friend." Katie answered. "And you didn't answer my question. Why are you yelling at each other?"

"This midget is the 'weird girl from the OC'?" Jodie frowned. Summer's jaw dropped and she turned to look at Katie, crossing her arms.

"Weird girl from the OC?" Summer narrowed her eyes on Katie. Katie made a step back and raised her arms in surrender.

"She's the one who said that." Katie pointed at Jodie, and this time, Jodie's jaw dropped.

"What? Wait a minute, you're the one who called her that!" Jodie scowled at her friend.

"And I'm not a midget" Summer shouted at Jodie's face. Jodie had to close her eyes. Summer then marched back to her room, scowling at Katie and Jodie one last time. "Singer, we'll talk tomorrow." Summer added. After Summer slammed her door closed, Katie walked to Jodie's direction.

"What happened?" Katie frowned at Jodie.

"That girl is crazy."

"I know that already. I'm asking you what happened. Why is she so angry at you?"

"Can I tell you tomorrow?"

"Fine." Katie walked back to her room.

"Wait, can I sleep in your room? I still want to live." Jodie begged. She suspects that if she sleeps in the living room, she'd probably wake up to see Summer holding an axe in front of her.

"Okay, but no touching." Katie warned her.

"Dream on, Katie, you're not my type." Jodie rolled her eyes.

"You tried to hit on me once."

"I wasn't thinking straight back then." Jodie laughed. Katie scowled at her. Jodie followed her into the bedroom.

Meanwhile, at the Quadrangle, Peyton Sawyer was alone, lying on the grass, staring at the stars…


End file.
